Archive for the 'Japanese Podcasts' Category

Stuck in traffic? Losing time in your car? Have you ever felt that in all this wasted time, you could have watched the 750 episodes of One Piece, finished the last Super Mario ten times, or even better…you could have learned Japanese? Between family, friends and work, in addition to this time-consuming commute, it can become difficult to find time to properly learn Japanese.

Fortunately, every problem has a solution, and what could be a better solution than turning that commute time into learning time? Stop passing the time mindlessly listening to the radio and try some of our best tips for mastering Japanese in your car!

You can learn Japanese in your car, hands free
While driving, it’s important that you keep your focus on the road, so this is why our top tips won’t require you to use your hands!

Listening to Japanese audio content in the car is a good way to learn
This is because it is a fun and efficient way to learn. With JapanesePod101.com podcasts, you will be able to discover Japanese culture through topics about everyday life. Instead of the radio, listen to a Japanese podcast adapted to your level, from Absolute Beginner to Advanced, and you will make progress sooner that you would expect!

You can listen to Japanese music in the car
Did you know that you can learn Japanese by singing while driving? Listen to songs from anime or Japanese idols and try to identify some words you learned.

You can also go to our YouTube Channel and play our Kids’ Songs playlist! Challenge yourself! Use the Japanese you’ve studied up to this point and see how much you understand! Making the jump to real-life Japanese is a scary one, but friendly children’s songs are a great place to start!

You can learn alone in your car
When you’re driving alone, you can be as loud as you want – there is nothing better for remembering your Japanese lessons than repeating loudly, again and again. Next time you see a driver who seems to be talking alone, you will know he or she is just learning Japanese!

You can learn through repetition with your passengers
If there are passengers in the car, it can be more stimulating to learn together. You can set a role play with Japanese dialogues. With JapanesePod101.com, you can download all the lessons transcript including the dialogues, as a PDF. Print it out and have some fun speaking in Japanese!

One of the passengers can answer the quiz available on each of our lessons, while another can correct that person. Listening to someone at a more advanced level of Japanese or a better accent is positive and helps you improve.

You can learn Japanese offline
Do you have a poor connection or are unable to use the Internet? It’s not a problem for learning Japanese! Before you start your commute, use our App to download the lessons you want to study and the podcast you want to listen to in your car, and you will be able to enjoy your lessons offline. Entering a tunnel won’t be a problem anymore. What a pleasure to listen to audio content without having the host freezing every 5 seconds!

You can learn every day at your own pace
One of the best approaches for learning a language is little by little and often. It’s not efficient to take in a huge amount of information at one time. What you need is to study on a regular basis – a little bit of Japanese every day. You commute several days a week, and that is all time you can take advantage of!

You have the freedom to choose the lessons and podcasts you want to focus on, at your own rhythm. You may want to do a little revision or discover how to talk about a new topic. And if you’re wondering what to learn next, you can use the new Learning Paths, which is our customized pathway feature that gives you a step-by-step way to learn Japanese without getting lost!

If you don’t have a car and commute by another method, these tips are still valid! Learning Japanese is no longer limited to the classroom or your house; there are so many benefits to learning in your car or elsewhere. Reaching a conversational level will take you less time than you could ever have imagined! Don’t forget to sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and enjoy our content!

Ai-chan here! Just a random guest who was given the opportunity to write on JapanesePod101’s blog! ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ

First off, a big round of applause to JapanesePod101!

Why, you ask? Cause they are awesome!

I started using JapanesePod101 about two months ago and I LOVE it!
To be honest, I was never the type to learn from websites or apps because I always find myself giving up halfway (too boring). So I took the Japanese classes offered in my university and learning it directly from a teacher was the best. Unfortunately, it had to come to an end when I graduated last year. Unable to give up on my passion for the language, I tried all sorts of method to keep learning Japanese…from playing Japanese games to reading Japanese novels. I think that this is good practice but it feels like something’s still missing. So I talked to a close friend of mine, and she recommended JapanesePod101.

I was reluctant to try it out at first because I was expecting it to be the same as the things I had before, but since my friend was going on and on about how easy and fun it is, I gave it a shot. Guess what? I was so WRONG!

Here’s why I LOVE JapanesePod101 :

They have TONS of resources! I learnt a lot because they cover a wide selection of topics. I find it really useful that they try to use daily life experiences as examples, because you can actually use them and apply them in real life.

They have really awesome audio lessons! I love how their teaching is not limited to just telling you how it is pronounced and what it means, but also some interesting cultural facts related to the topic.

The hosts from the lessons are very entertaining! That’s definitely one of the reasons why I have been using it for two months. The lessons are never boring! It’s what keeps me going back and wanting to learn more! If it had been like the lessons I used before, I wouldn’t even last a week.

Their app is so useful! It’s also really easy to use, and being able to learn Japanese wherever and whenever using my iPhone at my own pace is just awesome! I take the train for an hour every day to get to work, and listening to the podcasts just makes commuting enjoyable.

The dialogues for each lesson comes with the Japanese characters (hiragana/katakana/kanji), English translations, and also the romanji. I find this really helpful because I can learn word by word, including about what each one means and how it is spelt and read.

They update their contents very regularly. There’s always something new to learn! (I followed their Twitter and Facebook as well, which means more updates and more to learn!!)

There’s actually so much more that I could say about how great it is but rather than just listening to my side of the story, why not experience it yourself? It’s free to sign up anyway, so why not? ┐(´∇｀)┌

Japan is a country rich in pop culture that has started to gain recognition and popularity throughout the world. As popular culture changes quickly and drastically, we focus this lesson on the most recent pop culture.

Popular Music

Japan boasts the second largest music industry in the world after the United States.

Pop music is especially popular in Japan, although you can find all sorts of music in Japan done by Japanese artists-including rock, rap, hip-hop, reggae, and more.

Popular Movies

Recently, the popularity of domestic Japanese movies has been on the rise, with the annual box-office revenue for domestic movies hitting an all-time high in 2008.

Of the top Japanese films of 2008, the highest-grossing title was the animation film Gake no

Ue no Ponyo (”Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea̶

Hayao Miyazaki directed this movie as well as other popular animated titles such as My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, which was the first anime film to win an Academy Award.

Popular Television

Variety shows, true to their name, feature a variety of different content-cooking segments, comedy segments, skits, and quizzes are just some of what you’ll find on a typical Japanese variety show.

Variety shows often feature a large panel of currently popular celebrities and sometimes a studio audience.

Quiz shows that feature contestants (who are almost always celebrities) answering questions on numerous subjects, such as science, history, math, the Japanese language, pop culture, and so on, also enjoy great popularity.

Japanese dramas are also very popular among Japanese people of all ages.

Many current dramas’ running in Japan are adaptations of popular movies, comics, or animated shows.

Popular Foreigners in Japan

Jero, is an African-American singer who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He has gained popularity singing enka, a traditional type of pop music that is especially popular among older people.

Popular Japanese Men/Women Abroad

Actor Ken Watanabe became a recognized name after appearing alongside Tom Cruise in the 2003 war film The Last Samurai.

Issey Miyake is the most well-known Japanese designer in the world, and he is considered the first Asian designer to gain worldwide recognition.

Popular Sports Figures

Ichiro Suzuki joined the Seattle Mariners in 2000, a move that many watched with great interest, as he was the first Japanese position player to play regularly for a Major League Baseball team.

Shizuka Arakawa made headlines when she received a gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics, a first in the event for a Japanese skater.